


Day 23 - A Fond Farewell

by moonblossom



Series: Ty/Zane 30 Day OTP Challenge [23]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Family, Funeral sort of, M/M, Sad, sorry - Freeform, the dog dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 10:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2188884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonblossom/pseuds/moonblossom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the best way to deal with sadness is to remember the happy bits instead.</p>
<p>
  <a href="http://wintergrey.dreamwidth.org/15168.html">Day 23: A Funeral</a>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 23 - A Fond Farewell

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This deals with the death of a beloved family pet.

As he closed the front door behind him, Zane could hear the muffled tones of Ty’s voice in the kitchen, heavy pauses between his words. He was on the phone, then, and it didn’t sound like good news. Slowly, he made his way towards the back of the house.

Ty was leaning against the counter, his face flat and unreadable. Zane frowned.

“Okay, Ma. Yes. We’ll be there tomorrow… Yeah… Zane too, if he can… Love you too.” He sighed heavily and clicked the End Call button, looking up sadly at Zane.

“I need to head back home for the weekend. Think you can get tomorrow off work?” His face was still cool and impassive, but there was hurt behind his eyes. Zane felt his heart sinking into his stomach as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Clearly Mara was fine, if Ty had been on the phone with her. If something had happened to Earl or Chester, he’d be more obviously upset. It frustrated Zane that he couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

Ty’s shoulders slumped as he crossed the kitchen in two long strides, wrapping his arms around Zane’s midsection and resting his head on Zane’s shoulder. Instinctively, Zane ran his hand up and down Ty’s spine, stroking him comfortingly.

“Maggie died last night.” It took Zane a second to remember that Maggie was the stray dog who’d followed Ty home and adopted his grandfather. She must have been nearing twenty. “Gramps is a mess, apparently. Gonna go up there, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Stubborn old goat.”

"Of course I'll go with you, if you want me." Zane rested his cheek against Ty's forehead. It was unnerving to see him like this. Usually Ty operated in one of two modes; if something upset him he'd either laugh it off or threaten to shoot it. Seeing him flat-out sad broke something deep within Zane. He squeezed Ty again, stroking his back.

"If we head out now, we can be there by midnight." Zane tugged gently on Ty's waistband, trying to coax him upstairs to pack an overnight bag.

"Don't you have to call in or something?" Ty asked, following Zane blankly.

Zane shrugged. "Sometimes being the Assistant Special Agent in Charge has its perks. I'll clear it in the car."

Less than half an hour later, they were on the road. Zane had let Ty drive, knowing that giving him something to focus on was better than letting him twitch and fester in the passenger seat. Ty was subdued, but whenever he was able to take his hand off the gear shift he'd reach over and squeeze Zane's hand.

"She was a good dog. Damn mutt."

Zane nodded, keeping quiet. He knew that Ty needed to ramble, and she'd almost always been asleep in Chester's room when he visited, so he didn't really have much input. He reached out and stroked Ty's leg as the landscape around them grew greener and wilder. They stopped a few times for food and to stretch out, and pulled into the driveway at the Gradys' near midnight. Mara was waiting up for them.

As soon as Ty stepped into the house, she pulled him into a fierce, silent hug. She reached out and patted Zane's arm and he hugged her without thinking twice.

"Your grandpa's asleep. So's your father, come to think of it. Your brother said he'd be here tomorrow. Amelia's being fussy so Livi's staying home."

Ty cracked a smile, albeit a small one. "Go to bed, ma. We're big boys, we can take care of ourselves for the night."

"Nonsense," Mara waved a hand. "You're probably hungry."

"I'm fine, really. We ate on the road." Ty sighed, slumping onto the sofa.

Zane studied Mara's face. She was frowning, her hands fluttering with nervous energy that reminded him so much of Ty it made his chest ache. He could tell she was looking for something to keep herself occupied. As old as Maggie had been, and as much as she'd loved to complain about the dog being underfoot, she was clearly distraught. Zane caught Ty's eye and nodded.

"I'd love a sandwich or something, if it's not too much trouble," Zane said softly. Mara reached up and patted his cheek before bustling into the kitchen.

Ty glared at him, but he shrugged. "She's like you, baby. She needs to be doing something."

A few minutes later she barged back into the living room with two sliced turkey sandwiches on what looked like home-made bread.

"Eat, and then sleep. And keep an ear out for your grandfather, would you?"

Ty nodded and took one of the sandwiches without complaint. Zane chuckled, taking the other.

"'Night, boys..." She sighed, her lower lip trembling slightly. Ty jumped up and hugged her again, kissing her forehead.

"Love you, ma. Go get some sleep."

She nodded and shuffled up the stairs, sparing a look in the direction of Chester's bedroom.

They inhaled the sandwiches and Ty carried the plates back into the kitchen. Zane followed him, hugging him from behind as he leaned against the counter.

"Come to bed?"

Ty nodded silently, his mind clearly elsewhere. Zane led him up to bed and they curled up, arms and legs entangled.

***

The next morning Zane woke to an empty bed. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, trying to figure out what time it was. A quick glance at his phone confirmed it was barely seven in the morning. Ty always had too much energy up in the mountains. He smiled, despite himself, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater.

He could hear voices carrying in from the back yard. Affectionate bickering. He walked to the window and glanced outside, another smile creeping across his face as he saw Ty and Chester arguing in the shade of a huge old oak tree. He ran down the stairs and out the back door to intervene, if need be.

"It's my shovel, damn you. Let me do it, Beaumont, unless you want a face full of steel later."

"I don't want you hurting yourself, old man. Let me dig the hole."

Zane's heart sank when he figured out what they were bickering about. Chester wanted to dig the hole they were going to bury Maggie in, and Ty wasn't letting him. For a moment he debated leaving them to it or getting Earl to step in, but instead Zane took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and headed into the fray.

He studied Chester's face briefly for a moment. Behind the irritated frown he could see the anguish in the old man's eyes. He walked over to stand by Ty, dropping his voice.

"This is something he needs, Ty."

"He's going to hurt himself."

"Get another shovel, help him." 

Ty sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he crossed the yard to where Chester was standing and held the shovel out. "Go ahead and break the ground. We'll help you with the rest of it."

Chester glared at him briefly before snatching the shovel back. "Damn fool of a grandson. I'm not as frail as y'all seem to think I am."

He began stubbornly picking at the ground with his shovel and Ty left Zane standing there awkwardly as he went to find two more shovels.

It took them about an hour to get a decent hole dug. By then Earl and Mara were awake too, and the smells of breakfast were wafting out into the house. They headed in, seeing Deuce waiting for them at the table.

"Nice of you to show up after the work's done, boy." Chester pointed at Deuce. Ty rolled his eyes and grinned, and Zane was relieved to see the smile on his face.

"Quiet, gramps. You didn't even want us helping at first."

There were a few more moments of affectionate banter across the table as everyone sat down and started filling their plates. For a while, it almost felt like any other morning at the Grady household. Until Chester snatched a piece of bacon off the pile and held it down next to him, whistling.

When no scuffling paws or snuffling nose showed up, his face went white, a grimace flickering across his features. He dumped the bacon on his plate and stood up abruptly, pushing away from the table.

"If y'all will excuse me, I ain't hungry anymore."

Things were subdued after that, everyone scrambling to finish their food and get on with the daunting task of burying Maggie. Zane did his best not to feel like an interloper, honoured that they'd asked him along in the first place. As they finished, Ty and Deuce went off to check on Chester. Zane stacked the empty dishes and followed Mara to the counter.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, if you stack those in the dishwasher..."

"Mara," Zane sighed. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

She looked up at him, her eyes damp. "It's just plain weird not having that damn dog underfoot, you know?"

Zane had never felt a particularly strong affinity for any of the dogs back home, but aside from Bullet they'd been more like hired hands than members of the family. He couldn't say he really understood, but he nodded anyway.

A few minutes later, Deuce and Ty came out, Chester leaning between them. His eyes were red and puffy, but his mouth was set in a stern line, as though he was daring anyone to mention it.

"Let's get this done with." He nodded at one of the chest freezers and Zane realised with dawning horror what was in there.

Earl dug a rectangular plywood box out of the freezer and Zane noticed it was otherwise empty, which was a relief. He carried the box out to the yard and stood beside the hole they'd dug earlier. Zane and Mara followed, leaving Ty and Deuce to guide Chester out.

He stood there, leaning on his shovel, and Zane stepped around to stand next to Ty. His arm instinctively found its way to Ty's shoulders, and Ty leaned into him, sighing quietly.

"Thanks, Zane. Not sure I could have handled this without you here."

Zane kissed the top of Ty's head. "Not really doing anything."

"You're here. That's more than enough."

Chester thumped the side of the box with his shovel. "Stop canoodling over there for five minutes, would you?"

Zane bit his lip to stop himself from chuckling inappropriately, and stepped away from Ty, who glared at him but reached out to take his hand. Earl hefted the box and carefully placed it into the hole, and stepped back to let Chester dump the first shovelful of dirt over it. Quickly, Earl, Ty, and Chester filled up the hole. Chester flattened the dirt with the back of his shovel and stepped back to lean against the trunk.

"She was a good dog," his voice sounded fragile and broken, dryer than usual, but his face was stoic. Ty reached over, resting a hand on his grandfather's shoulder.

"She was. I was always a little jealous that she abandoned me so quickly when she met you, old man."

Chester shrugged, the ghost of a smile on his face. "Dog had smarts, what can I tell ya?"

"Do you remember the time she ate the Thanksgiving turkey?" Deuce blurted out, chuckling despite himself. 

Mara burst out laughing. "We ended up having sandwiches! On Thanksgiving!"

Even Chester couldn't contain his laughter, and before long they were all sharing stories of Maggie's life; the time she ate one of Deuce's shoes, the time she got sprayed by a skunk and then crawled into Chester's bed, the time Nick had fallen asleep on the floor and she'd peed on his leg. The list went on and on, until Zane was unable to differentiate one story from another.

Zane smiled. It was certainly odd to see everyone laughing at what had started as such a sad event, but it warmed his heart. Something about the whole thing felt very typically Grady. Loud, inappropriate, and absolutely utterly pure.

Eventually, they calmed themselves. "She was a good dog," Chester echoed one last time. He hugged his grandsons tightly, before hugging Earl and Mara. He stepped up to Zane and without warning, wrapped his frail arms around Zane's shoulders. Zane was too shocked to react at first, but eventually he relaxed and returned the hug, grinning as he watched Chester's form tread slowly up the stairs and back into the house.

Ty slipped back under Zane's arm as Mara came up to them. "I should hope you boys are planning to spend the night here again."

Zane glanced at Ty, who smiled and nodded.


End file.
